Myanmar (Burma) - part 8

Wednesday 26 December 2007 - Inle Lake

Still didn't feel very well when I woke up but I had a plane to catch. I had arranged for a taxi to pick me up from the guest house and take me to the airport for 11,000 kyats. There was another girl, a German, waiting with me at reception. It turns out we were both catching the same flight to Heho for Inle Lake. She was waiting for a shuttle to take her to the airport for 4,000 kyats. I would have hit myself if I wasn't in a weakened state due to my illness. She said the airport shuttle was mentioned in Lonely Planet but I couldn't (and still can't) find where it's mentioned. Because traffic was light, I arrived at the airport relatively early. The German girl arrived quite late, close to boarding time. She said that her shuttle was late and at one point, she was concerned that she was going to miss her flight. I asked if she would like to share a taxi with me at Heho airport for Inle Lake and she agreed. (Inle Lake is approximately 1 hour's drive from Heho airport.) At Heho airport, we were joined by a German guy. We started bargaining with taxi drivers the German guy refers to collectively as the "taxi mafia". I would have been happy to pay US$5 but it wasn't low enough for the German guy so we began walking the 2kms to the main road to catch a pickup. The German guy was strong and carried my backpack. Approximately 10 metres from the taxi rank, we were offered the final price of 5,000 kyats each. That's a deal. The two Germans will be spending at least 2 nights at Inle Lake while I will be flying back to Yangon tomorrow so immediately after I had sorted out my accommodation for the night, I went in search of a boat to take me around Inle Lake. Had I stayed another night, I would have been able to share a boat with the two Germans hence cutting down my expense but it was not to be. The Aquarius guest house where I stayed quoted me US$12. I thought it was a bit too expensive so I went to the jetty myself. The lowest I was able to bargain for was US$11. I had to accept it given I really didn't have a choice as I was only going to be Inle Lake for one day and this was it. In hindsight, I should have stayed for two days. I quite liked Inle Lake. I firstly went to Indein where it was quiet (and disappointing). A painting vendor told me that because of the riots in October, visitor numbers have dropped dramatically. Next I went to see two long neck ladies weave. Finally, I went to see the jumping cats at Nga Hpe Chaung. After sunset back at the guest house it was noticably colder. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant with the two Germans and yet another German girl who was also staying at our guest house. This German girl told us that she will end her trip in Burma by spending 10 days at a monastery near Rangoon in order to "cleanse" herself. Apparently, 10 days is the minimum that one must stay otherwise it's not worth doing. She said that her friend who recommended this to her had previously stayed a month and will return for further cleansing shortly. I ordered homemade spaghetti bolognese but couldn't finish my meal as I was still feeling ill so I left the Germans by themselves and returned to the guest house. It was freezing that night.